Timeline for A natural explanation for the significance of the numbers 7 and 40
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
22 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 28, 2018 at 7:03 | comment | added | user18041 | There were two major world civilizations that deeply influenced ancient Judaism: Egyptians and Babylonians. The former celebrated the New Year in autumn, the latter in spring, and their first month was called Nisanu. Likewise, the former are famous for their mummies, and their mummification process is known to have lasted about 37 days, whereas the latter were renowned astronomers (the seven classical planets; the phases of the moon, lasting about as many days), and in whose sexagesimal counting system that particular prime, unlike the six preceding numbers, stuck out like a sore thumb. | |
| Jul 27, 2016 at 6:14 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackJudaism/status/758183865588518912 | ||
| Jul 27, 2016 at 4:56 | comment | added | mevaqesh | @msh210 Actually the OP independently discovered a major theme of ta'amei hamitsvot according to Rambam and his followers; the historic component intended specifically for people at the Time the Torah was given! | |
| Jul 27, 2016 at 4:14 | answer | added | user2411 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Jun 10, 2015 at 13:33 | answer | added | user908094 | timeline score: -2 | |
| Apr 7, 2015 at 22:03 | comment | added | Chiddushei Torah | See Jewish Wisdom In The Numbers, pages 110 - 116 and 274 - 276 | |
| Feb 3, 2012 at 3:44 | answer | added | pat | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 23, 2011 at 17:22 | answer | added | Alex | timeline score: 3 | |
| May 22, 2011 at 17:39 | comment | added | Isaac Moses♦ | @Scott, the Sefer HaChinuch referred to by msh210 dealt specifically with the commandments. | |
| May 22, 2011 at 17:25 | answer | added | avi | timeline score: 3 | |
| May 16, 2011 at 15:50 | comment | added | msh210♦ | @YaakovEllis, you've worded it well. | |
| May 16, 2011 at 15:46 | comment | added | Scott Mitchell | @msh210: I admit my knowledge in this area is essentially none outside of what I've read from the Old Testament, so please do forgive my ignorance. I guess my underlying question then is does the Chinuch give any reasoning behind the significance of the numbers of 7 and 40? | |
| May 16, 2011 at 11:07 | comment | added | Yaakov Ellis | I think that the objections to the question are not to the search for natural phenomena that are related to 7 and 40, rather they are to @Scott's comment below: "why would a group of people living thousands of years ago come to hold these two numbers in such significance" as well as in the question: "natural explanations as to why these two numbers came to hold such significance". The phrasing in both places implies an assumption that items of spiritual significance in Judaism would get that significance from nature, and not from God (a sentiment that many here would find objectionable). | |
| May 16, 2011 at 2:01 | comment | added | msh210♦ | There are many Jewish authors who seek or provide "natural"/"logical" explanations for spiritual things, perhaps most famously Maimonides. The Chinuch gives a logical reason for just about every mitzva. But they acknowledge that, in the end, any mitzva is simply because God said so, despite our efforts to understand a small part of his reason. The wording of your question struck me as... less acknowledging thereof. | |
| May 15, 2011 at 20:48 | comment | added | Scott Mitchell | @msh210: If you know of a better place I could ask such a question, I'm all ears. I am honestly intrigued by a non-spiritual explanation for the importance of these two numbers and am not sure where I can find such insight. I was hopeful that maybe these numbers had had a cultural or traditional context in the Jewish community apart from or in conjunction with the spiritual context that I was unaware of that could help explain how these numbers gained significance, hence my reason for asking it here. | |
| May 15, 2011 at 20:41 | comment | added | Scott Mitchell | @msh210: I apologize if it comes across as insulting, as I don't mean it to. From my understanding, there is a lot of emphasis on numbers and numerology in the Torah, from certain numbers repeating often (7 and 40 being two prime examples) to multiples of these numbers. I'm curious if there is an explanation to the importance of said numbers beyond, "God said so." It would be like asking, "Is there a societal explanation to forgiving all debts every seven years aside from God commanding it?" Is that insulting? I don't think so and, to me, it seems inline with "Jewish tradition." | |
| May 15, 2011 at 20:29 | answer | added | Laizer | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 15, 2011 at 4:14 | comment | added | msh210♦ | You're asking on a site "for students and teachers of Jewish law and tradition" for "why people living thousands of years ago came to attach such significance" irrespective of "how these numbers are represented as holy numbers in Jewish texts": essentially, to ignore Jewish law and tradition and assume that the holy texts comprising such use 7 and 40 as a cultural thing? Sounds rather insulting to the holy texts and off-topic on the site. Perhaps,though, I'm misinterpreting the question, in which case I'd love to be set straight. | |
| May 14, 2011 at 20:15 | comment | added | Yaakov Ellis | In Hebrew, the names of the days of the week, literally translated, are "first day, second day, third day ... Sabbath". The phenomenon of the names of the days of the week corresponding to heavenly bodies is something that is more a feature of English (and its ancestor languages). | |
| May 14, 2011 at 19:43 | history | edited | Scott Mitchell | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Added desire for more natural explanation; added 4 characters in body
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| May 14, 2011 at 19:21 | answer | added | Yaakov Ellis | timeline score: 7 | |
| May 14, 2011 at 18:31 | history | asked | Scott Mitchell | CC BY-SA 3.0 |